Online gaming Web sites allow participants to “meet” in cyberspace, competing at a virtual location accessible to any player at any time. However, there are drawbacks that exist in such online group play of video games and video game tournaments. For example, players of relatively lower skill level or that achieve relatively lower success when competing in a group video game or game tournament may become discouraged and refrain from play. Such a problem may be particularly acute if the game or tournament is being played for a prize. A player who does not often win a prize or come close to winning a prize because the player's skill level or luck is below that of other players may become discouraged, depressed, or even angry that they are not able to win prizes like they want to.
Unhappy players are detrimental to the development and maintenance of a successful and popular gaming Web site. For example, unhappy players may complain to their friends or relatives and convince them to stop patronizing the gaming Web site. Unhappy players themselves may stop patronizing the gaming Web site or contact the Web site's customer service department frequently, thus increasing the costs for the Web site. The avoidance of unhappy players may be of particular concern to a gaming Web site that collects entry fees from players that participate in games or tournaments or whose revenue depends on advertising monies that are generated based on the number of players patronizing the Web site. Accordingly, there is a need to minimize the number of players that become unhappy as a result of their poor performance during play of a game or tournament on a gaming Web site.
The numerals in FIGS. 1–10 are assigned to similar elements in all the figures. Embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to FIGS. 1–10. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect to these figures is for explanatory purposes, as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments.